Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 with Intel Core Ultra 7 265K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

The combination of Intel's Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4090 produces a formidable Hitman 2 experience, with the data showing a clear progression from CPU-bound territory at 1080p to GPU-bound performance at 4K Ultra. This pairing lands at rank 129 out of 3,711 tested combos, placing it in the top 3.5% of all configurations tested, and the measured frame rates reveal a system that comfortably handles the stealth title at every resolution tested, though the gap between settings tiers widens dramatically as resolution increases.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows how Hitman 2 scales across resolutions, and the pattern is instructive. At 1080p High, the system delivers 190 FPS average; stepping up to 1440p High drops that to 121 FPS, and 4K High lands at 65 FPS. That represents a 36% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and another 46% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, which points to the GPU becoming progressively more dominant as pixel count rises.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more dramatic. The 1080p Low result of 334 FPS falls to 214 FPS at 1440p and 114 FPS at 4K. That is a 36% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 47% drop from 1440p to 4K. The fact that 1080p Low produces over 300 FPS suggests the CPU is doing heavy lifting at that resolution, since the RTX 4090 would likely be capable of even higher frame rates if left entirely unconstrained.

Ultra settings tell a different story. At 1080p Ultra, the system hits 140 FPS, which drops to 89 FPS at 1440p and 48 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest measured figure in the entire dataset, and the step from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra represents a 46% performance reduction. This indicates that at Ultra settings and 4K resolution, the RTX 4090 is the clear limiting component, with the CPU's 20 cores and 5.50 GHz boost clock providing ample headroom.

The Medium settings results include minimum and maximum FPS data, which adds texture to the analysis. At 1080p Medium, the average is 251 FPS with a minimum of 213 and maximum of 288. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 160 FPS with a 136 minimum and 184 maximum. At 4K Medium, the average is 85 FPS with a 73 minimum and 98 maximum. The spread between minimum and maximum remains relatively consistent around 30% of the average across resolutions, suggesting frame pacing is stable.

The overall pattern shows that Hitman 2 scales predictably with resolution, but the CPU's influence is most visible at 1080p Low, where the frame rate reaches 334 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the system delivers 48 FPS, which is playable but represents the most demanding configuration tested. The data suggests that for competitive play at high refresh rates, 1080p or 1440p with Medium or High settings would be the sweet spot, while 4K Ultra is best reserved for slower, more methodical playthroughs.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 brings substantial hardware to this pairing. Its AD102 chip on TSMC's 5 nm process contains 76,300 million transistors across a 609 mm² die, with 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. The boost clock runs at 2520 MHz, and the 24 GB of GDDR6X memory operates across a 384-bit bus for 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. These specifications translate into measured performance that positions the GPU in the 88th percentile of all GPUs tested.

The GPU's memory configuration is particularly relevant for Hitman 2 at high resolutions. With 24 GB of GDDR6X, the RTX 4090 has far more memory than the game requires, even at 4K Ultra. The absence of any memory-related bottlenecks is consistent with the measured results, where the frame rate drops are attributable to raw rendering load rather than capacity limits. The 1.01 TB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming at 4K Ultra does not become a limiting factor.

Clock speeds play a role in the performance scaling observed. The base clock of 2235 MHz and boost clock of 2520 MHz are high for a GPU of this class, and the data shows that even at 4K High, the card maintains 65 FPS. The pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s provide the raw throughput needed for Hitman 2's detailed environments at high resolutions.

The RTX 4090's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the Intel Arc Pro A60 with a delta of 0%, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 at +0.3%, and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M at -2.5%. These are workstation-oriented cards rather than gaming-focused competitors, which reflects the RTX 4090's position as an outlier in the consumer GPU space. The GPU's average benchmark score of 60,347 places it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, confirming its high-end status.

In Hitman 2 specifically, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 334 FPS, but this is likely limited by the CPU rather than the GPU. At 4K Ultra, the 48 FPS result shows the GPU being pushed to its limits, with the 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute being fully exercised by the game's rendering demands at that resolution and settings combination.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration places the CPU in the 94th percentile of all CPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 70,879.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-core performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 35,850 multi-core and 2,020 single-core. Geekbench results are 23,085 multi-core and 2,713 single-core. PassMark multithread score is 58,594, with single-thread at 4,928. The nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6511P at -0.2%, the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 at -0.7%, the Intel Core i7-14700KF at +1%, and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F at +1.3%. These deltas are all within 2%, indicating that the Core Ultra 7 265K sits in a tightly contested performance band.

For Hitman 2, the CPU's single-thread performance is particularly important. The game's stealth mechanics and AI routines benefit from strong single-core performance, and the 2,020 Cinebench R23 single-core score provides a solid foundation. The 5.50 GHz boost clock ensures that the game's main thread has access to high-frequency execution, which is reflected in the 1080p Low result of 334 FPS.

The 20 cores and 20 threads offer substantial multi-threading capacity, though Hitman 2 may not fully utilize all of them. The PassMark physics score of 3,731 indicates good computational throughput for game physics, and the data compression score of 665,554 shows the CPU's ability to handle data-intensive workloads. The 30 MB of shared L3 cache helps keep frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing memory latency.

The CPU's memory support includes DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth, along with ECC memory support. This memory bandwidth is sufficient for the game's needs, and the PCIe Gen 5 support with 20 lanes provides ample bandwidth for the RTX 4090, which uses PCIe 4.0 x16. The integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU provides a fallback display output, though it is not a factor in this discrete GPU configuration.

In the context of Hitman 2, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 334 FPS result suggests the CPU is the limiting factor, as the RTX 4090 would likely be capable of higher frame rates if the CPU could feed it faster. At 4K Ultra, the CPU has ample headroom, and the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The launch MSRP of $394 positions this CPU in the upper-mid-range tier, but its performance characteristics make it a strong match for the RTX 4090.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 129th out of 3,711 tested combinations in Hitman 2. This places the pairing in the top 3.5% of all configurations tested, which is a strong result for a game that is not typically used as a primary benchmark title. The rank reflects the combination's ability to deliver high frame rates across all tested settings and resolutions.

The ranking is particularly notable given that the RTX 4090 is listed as end-of-life, with the GeForce 50 series as its successor. Despite this, the GPU's performance in Hitman 2 remains competitive, and the pairing with the Core Ultra 7 265K produces results that outperform the vast majority of tested combinations. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking and the GPU's 88th percentile ranking combine to create a system that is well-balanced for this game.

The nearest rival CPUs to the Core Ultra 7 265K, including the Intel Core i7-14700KF at +1% and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F at +1.3%, show that the CPU is competitively positioned. The small deltas between these processors suggest that Hitman 2 is not highly sensitive to CPU choice at higher resolutions, where the GPU dominates. However, at 1080p Low, the CPU's single-thread performance becomes more relevant, and the 5.50 GHz boost clock provides an advantage.

The combo rank of 129 out of 3,711 is impressive, but it is notably Hitman 2 is not an especially demanding game by modern standards. The game's 2018 release date means it was designed for hardware that is now several generations old, which explains why even the 4K Ultra result of 48 FPS is achievable with this high-end configuration. The rank reflects the system's ability to handle the game's requirements with substantial headroom, but it does not necessarily indicate how the combo would perform in more demanding titles.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for Hitman 2 with this hardware?

A: The data shows that 1440p High delivers 121 FPS average, which balances visual quality and smoothness. For maximum frame rates, 1080p Low achieves 334 FPS, while 4K Ultra drops to 48 FPS, which may be too low for some players.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K Ultra?

A: At 4K Ultra, the system produces 48 FPS, and the GPU's rendering load is the primary constraint. The CPU's 20 cores and 5.50 GHz boost clock provide ample headroom at this resolution, as evidenced by the much higher frame rates at lower resolutions.

Q: How does the Core Ultra 7 265K compare to its nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score of 70,879 is 0.2% below the Intel Xeon 6511P, 0.7% below the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270, 1% above the Intel Core i7-14700KF, and 1.3% above the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, High settings produce 190 FPS average, while Ultra settings produce 140 FPS average. This represents a 26% reduction from High to Ultra, which is a significant trade-off for the visual improvements.

Q: Does the RTX 4090's 24 GB of memory provide enough capacity for Hitman 2 at 4K?

A: Yes, the 24 GB of GDDR6X memory is far more than Hitman 2 requires, even at 4K Ultra. The 1.01 TB/s bandwidth ensures that memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor in the measured results.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 129th out of 3,711 tested combinations in Hitman 2, placing it in the top 3.5% of all configurations. This is a strong result, though the game's age means many modern systems can achieve high frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 334 FPS average, Medium settings produce 251 FPS average with a minimum of 213 and maximum of 288, High settings produce 190 FPS average, and Ultra settings produce 140 FPS average. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 58% reduction in frame rate, which is substantial but leaves even the Ultra result well above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show the expected reduction. Low settings deliver 214 FPS average, Medium settings deliver 160 FPS average with a minimum of 136 and maximum of 184, High settings deliver 121 FPS average, and Ultra settings deliver 89 FPS average. The step from 1080p to 1440p reduces frame rates by 36% at Low settings, 36% at Medium settings, 36% at High settings, and 36% at Ultra settings, showing consistent scaling across all quality tiers.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop more significantly. Low settings produce 114 FPS average, Medium settings produce 85 FPS average with a minimum of 73 and maximum of 98, High settings produce 65 FPS average, and Ultra settings produce 48 FPS average. The reduction from 1440p to 4K is 47% at Low settings, 47% at Medium settings, 46% at High settings, and 46% at Ultra settings. This consistency suggests that the GPU's rendering load scales predictably with pixel count, with the RTX 4090 maintaining playable frame rates at all settings except 4K Ultra, which dips below 50 FPS.

The Medium settings results include the only minimum and maximum FPS data in the dataset. At 1080p Medium, the range from 213 to 288 FPS shows a 35% spread around the 251 FPS average. At 1440p Medium, the range from 136 to 184 FPS shows a 30% spread around the 160 FPS average. At 4K Medium, the range from 73 to 98 FPS shows a 29% spread around the 85 FPS average. This narrowing spread at higher resolutions is consistent with GPU-bound behavior, where frame time variance decreases as the GPU becomes the limiting factor.